


Go And Make Aunt Peggy Proud

by Nanerich



Series: Ironfam [9]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Anyways, Aunt Peggy Carter, Awesome Peggy Carter, Everybody is alive and happy, Gen, Godmother Peggy Carter, Happily married to her husband with two kids, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, I really suck at tagging, Infinity War/ Endgame never happened, Not, Past Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Peter Parker, Rated T for Trashmouth, Stucky are happy and in love, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Tony Stark Has Daddy Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Very fluffy, bit angsty, but he's still an amazing Irondad, but so much more fluff, sorry about that, spiderson, tagging is hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-24 21:08:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21344731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nanerich/pseuds/Nanerich
Summary: When Howard screws around with one of Hank Pym's quantum theories, things go south, quickly and that in a way Peggy did not imagine in her wildest dreams: they end up in the year 2019.Luckily, a vigilante in a bright red, skintight spidersuit can help them out and take Peggy and Howard to who will be able to help them out.
Relationships: Edwin Jarvis & Tony Stark, Happy Hogan/May Parker (Spider-Man), Howard Stark & Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Peggy Carter & Howard Stark, Peggy Carter & Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter & Tony Stark, Peggy Carter/Peggy Carter's Husband, Peggy Cater & Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Ironfam [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1528625
Comments: 44
Kudos: 935
Collections: Peter Parker Stories, ellie marvel fics - read





	Go And Make Aunt Peggy Proud

Men and their toys. Peggy could only shake her head, as she walked in on Howard in his lab, hanging upside down in some sort of machinery.

“Maria, is that you?”, came the muffled cry from the inside of that monstrosity.

“It’s Peggy.”

“Thank the heavens, Peggy, you have to help me.”

“I wouldn’t have guessed”, she grinned, as she walked over. “I may be strong, but I can’t pull you out by myself.”

“That’s not what I need, I need the pliers over there.” He waved with his feet, pointing them towards a table to his side. “And that torch, too.”

“As long as you know what you're doing...”

“You know me, Peg.”

“That's exactly why I'm worried.”, she scoffed, but from experience, Peggy was aware that Howard wouldn't drop it any ways. And with a torch, he might at least see how he was about to kill himself... “Fine.” Carefully, she dropped the tools down the opening.

“Thanks!”, he called, and she immediately could hear him getting back to work.

Well, Peggy knew him well enough to know that unless Howard actually climbed out there and was at least 50 yards away from whatever he was working on at the moment, she wouldn’t get anything out of him. So, she had to try again later and was just about to turn around, when some weird noises came from the machine, and Howard started to swear. That couldn’t be good.

“Howard? I think you should get out of there.”

“No kidding!”, he screamed, his legs flailing in fear, “I’m stuck!”

“Damnit.” Peggy ran over and grabbed his legs, trying to pull him out.

“GET OUT OF HERE!”

But it was too late. Before she knew what had happened, they were engulfed in blinding light and a loud bang echoed through the lab, leaving her ears ringing.

All of a sudden, everything was quiet again. After the first shock had passed, Peggy dared to glint through a half-open eye. She still held on to Howard’s leg, but he was no longer stuck inside his machine. Instead, they were lying on a concrete floor under a cloudy sky.

“Howard? Are you alright?”, she carefully asked.

“I think so…” He sat up and looked around.

“What just happened?”

“I have no idea…”

As quickly as her wobbly legs let her, Peggy scrambled to her feet, looking around where they had landed. “Uhm, you might want to take a look at that…” Now she could see that they were on what had to be a roof, looking over New York, or at least a place that was similar to New York. It had the landmarks she knew, she could see the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, and all that, but it was different: so many cars, weirdly advanced cars; so many modern sky scrapers she had never seen before; bright signs illuminating the narrow streets.

“What in the…” Howard stood next to her, his mouth gaping open, just as hers was. “Are we dead?”

“I don’t think so…” But Peggy was not so sure about that. “What kind of machine were you working on?”

“Some theory of Pym’s, quantum mechanics… But I have no idea what I did…”

Somehow, they managed to find a door, follow a mostly empty staircase down, until they stood out on the street. New York was as busy as ever, people were pushing past them, wearing some interesting clothes, most of them talking to apparently nobody. It took Peggy almost crashing into a few people until she noticed they were wearing earpieces.

“Peggy.” Howard held a newspaper in front of her face. “Check the date.”

“The date, but… what?” No, no, that just couldn’t be. 2019? “Howard, is this what I think it is?”

“I think we travelled to the future”, he stated.

“Oh.” She really didn’t know what else to say. “What do we do now? I mean, how do we get back?”

“I don’t know. Peggy, I… We need to get back! There’s SHIELD, there’s SI and we have little kids sitting at home!”

“Not that little, I think...” Flipping the newspaper over, she saw a weirdly familiar face.

_‘Tony Stark to speak at the MIT Graduation Celebrations’_

“Oh, wow, looks like your boy got into MIT at 15!” She turned to Howard. “I’m sure, he can help us.”

“Let’s hope so. Uhm, excuse me, young man?” Howard stopped a boy walking past them.

“Hello, can I help you?”

“Yes, please, do you know Stark Industries, or even where to find Anthony Stark?”

“You new in town?” The youth had his eyebrows raised.

“You could say that”, Peggy threw in, smiling as politely as she could.

“Wait, I feel like I know you. Have we met before?”

“I don’t think so”, she answered.

“Hmmm…” He stared at her a moment longer, before he turned back to Howard. “If you want to find Ironman, you wanna head upstate. The Avengers moved there two years ago”, he shrugged. “Not sure you’ll get in though, security is mad tight.”

“Uh, ok, thank you.”

Howard and Peggy exchanged a quick glance. “Ok, I didn’t understand a word of what that boy said. What is an Ironman and what are the Avengers?”

“I don’t know”, Peggy shrugged. “Maybe there is some information point around here?”

They were lucky, a bodega two streets over could provide them with some help.

“If you can wait for another few minutes, I can introduce you to a guy that can help you out.”

“Really?” That sounded promising…

“Yeah”, the man nodded, chewing his gum loudly, “you’re lucky, Spider-Man’s a regular here.”

“Spider-Man?”

“You’re not from here, are you?”, he asked, eyeing them curiously.

“No, we’re not. Travelled some distance.”

“Mhm. Yeah, thought so. Every self-respecting New Yorker knows Spidey”, he scoffed.

“Aw, thanks, Diego!”

Peggy turned around as she heard the voice and couldn’t believe her eyes. In front of her stood a young man, probably in his late teens, early twenties, judging from his voice, in a skin-tight, bright red suit, with a giant spider up front.

“Hi, can I help you?” He eyed her curiously, and suddenly he clapped his hands in front of his face. “Oh my god. Are… are you Peggy Carter?”

To an outsider, the scene must have looked almost comical, both of them staring at each other with wide eyes.

“I am. How do you know who I am?”

“You’re all over my history books, in the museums. Oh my god, how are you here? This is so freaking incredible, you’re absolutely amazing, you’re so freaking badass…” His voice pitched higher, as he went to shake her hand. “I am Spider-Man, it is an absolute honour to meet you, ma’am!”

“Wow. Thank you.” She was in history books? Damn. That really did wonders for one’s self-esteem.

“What, I mean… Did you time-travel or what happened?”

“I fear we might have. By accident.”

“Oh wow. That is so freaking cool! Does that mean you’re stuck here? Aw man, that sucks, but it is so incredible to meet you!”

Huh. He didn’t even question their time jump! Of course, New Yorkers weren’t bothered by that much, and Spider-Man did run around as if he’d just came right out of a comic book.  
  
“Yes, we are stuck”, Howard threw in, as Spider-Man finally stopped for a breath of air. “Which is why we need to find Anthony Stark, to help us get back and Diego here told us that you could help with that.”

“You’re Mr. Stark’s father, aren’t you?” Spider-Man looked Howard up and down.

“I’m Howard, yes.”

“Hm.” Nothing. No excited rambling, no ‘I’m such a big fan’. “Alright then, let me make a call. KAREN, call Happy.”

“Who’s Karen?”, she asked, ignoring and playing over the offended face Howard made for not being fanned over.

But the boy had turned around, currently talking to thin air. “Happy? Hey, can you pick me up? Yeah, I know, but it’s an emergency. No, I’m not hurt. It… It’s a little hard to explain why and what happened, but you need to come right now. No, don’t tell him. Listen, Happy”, he hissed, his tone getting more and more urgent, “I have no idea what’s going on right now, but I need you to pick me up, right freaking now! And make sure that Pepper’s home. And maybe Mr Rhodey, too. I don’t know. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, so just come and see for yourself please. Thanks, I owe you one. See you in a few!”

“Alright, transport is on its way.” He turned back around. “Happy will pick us up shortly and take us to Mr. Stark.”

“Thank you, Spider-Man, we really appreciate it!”

As they waited, Spider-Man's excitement did not die down, as he animatedly chatted with Peggy, about her accomplishments and asked one question after the other, not really giving her much of a chance to answer them though. Peggy didn't miss, how the – as she had found out by now – vigilante ignored Howard, who was less than impressed to say the least. But at least he stayed polite enough to let Spider-Man be.

“Spider-Man?” A man in a suit walked into the bodega, calling out for the kid about half an hour after he had made the call.

“Happy, thank you for coming.” The boy walked over, Peggy and Howard followed suit.

“Ok, so what is so weird that you couldn’t tell me over the… Oh.” As soon as he saw the pair, his chin dropped, and with big eyes he looked from Peter to Peggy to Howard and then back to Peter. “Calling me was a good idea.”

“Yeah… We need to get them to Mr. Stark.”

“Agreed. Ma’am, Sir, I am Happy Hogan, head of transportation and security for Tony Stark and if you’d like to follow me, I’ll take you to him. Kid, you coming, too?”

“As if I’d miss this!”, he nodded and followed the man outside to the very fancy looking car; the boy holding the door open for her.

“Thank you, how very gentlemanlike of you.”

“Thanks”, he answered, with what was presumably a grin, it was hard to tell with the mask. But a few moments later, as they sat in the car and drove off, he pulled it off his face.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t properly introduce myself, but with civilians around… My name is Peter, Peter Parker.”

“It is nice to meet you, Peter”, she smiled and took his features in. He was a pretty kid, and from their earlier conversation she gathered that he was quite intelligent too, bordering on genius. All in all, he reminded her a little bit of Tony, at least that’s what she imagined her Tony to be like when he was a teenager.

With a smile, the boy turned back to the front. He was sitting next to Happy, softly whispering. Which was understandable, their arrival was sure to cause a lot of drama. The little she could make out though, didn’t make a lot of sense.

“Did you tell her?”, Happy hissed.

“No, how could I?”

Oh, something at the compound was going to shock her just as much as their arrival would Tony. She tried to ignore the hushed conversation and instead took the car in. The seats were comfortable leather, and everything seemed to work automatically. There was music playing on the radio and, to put it mildly, it shocked her a little bit. She could see that Howard did not like it at all, but it had something, Peggy could get used to it.

“We’re almost there.” After a while, the kid turned around again and pointed towards a giant areal of buildings coming into view, a giant lit up ‘Avengers’ sign on top.

“Wow”, Howard whistled appreciative, “my kid’s got good taste.”

“Well, how would you like to play this?”, Happy asked.

“You know him better, the current him, at least. What you deem best should work.”

He glanced over at Peter. “He was already suspicious when I left head over heels after your call. He knows something’s up.”

“Is Pepper here?”

“Yes. How about meeting in the common room?”

“Yeah. Good idea. The other one as well?”

“Which other one?”, Howard asked from the back seat. “Please don’t tell me either of us is still alive!”, he laughed. “Oh, can you imagine, this year’d be my 100th!”

Peter just exchanged a worried glance with Happy, before they both swallowed. That was not a good sign. “No, neither of you is still kicking”, the teen blurted out. “Sorry, that was a little blunt.”

“It’s alright”, she chuckled, “I don't think I want to live to that age in any case.”

Peter turned back to Happy, as he spoke again. “Maybe start with Tony, that’ll be enough drama as it is.”

“Yeah, good idea. KAREN, can you tell FRI to tell Mr. Stark and Pepper to wait for us in the common room?”

“Message delivered”, a woman’s voice answered. Peggy looked around, but couldn’t see anyone, not even speakers. This modern technology was starting to freak her out…

“Welcome to the Avenger’s.” Happy stopped in front of the impressive building’s doors and Peter quickly jumped out to open Peggy’s door for her.

“Thank you for all your help”, she smiled. His ears got all red as he smiled back and headed for the building.

“Please follow me.”

He was quick on his feet, looking around, as if somebody could be watching. Maybe it was ‘that other one’ they had been speaking about…

And before they knew it, Peter quickly slipped into a room, whispering a quiet, “Please don’t freak out” and opened the door for her and Howard.

And there he was, her Tony. A beard, first grey hair, but unmistakably her little boy. As soon as they walked into the room, his face dropped. The blonde woman next to him was almost as shocked, grabbed his arm, and with wide eyes, they both stared at them.

“Hey Tony, honey, it’s been a while.”

A deep breath later, Tony got up and walked up to Peggy, looking her up and down, before going in for a hug. “Hi Aunt Peg”, he managed to whisper eventually, “I missed you!”

“I missed you too, darling!” She pulled in tight. And, even though it wasn’t the little rascal wrapping himself around her, she would have recognized that smell, that smiling face out of a million others.

After a while, he took a step back and smiled down on her, even a tear or two glinting in his eyes. He took a deep breath, before he turned to his father. “Howard.” He held his hand out, and almost hesitantly shook it.

“This is Pepper Potts.” He waved at the blonde woman, who now walked over and shook their hands. “She is the CEO of SI.”

“It’s not you?”, Howard asked.

“Nope.”

He barely acknowledged Howard, instead he looked at Peter. “And you found them wandering around the streets of New York?”

“Pretty much”, he nodded.

“What did you tell them?” He looked inquisitive, and Peter seemed to get exactly what he was hinting at.

“I haven’t crossed that timeline yet”, he just answered.

“Uh huh… Go fetch him.” Tony decided.

“Uhm, both?”

Tony hesitated a moment before he shrugged: “why not.”

“Alright.” The boy turned around and quickly walked out the door.

“Who are they? Peter and Happy already hinted at someone else wanting to see us, but wouldn’t tell us who.”

“You’ll see in a moment.” Tony took two steps back and leaned against a table. “I really have no idea what to say.” Shaking his head, he looked between Peggy and his father. “When are you from?”

“’75. We actually just celebrated your fifth birthday”, Peggy smiled.

“Wow.”

“Aw, five-year-old Tony. How adorable!”, Pepper grinned at him, “I would really like to meet that little snot-nose.”

“I think you already do, in a way at least”, Peggy smiled at her, “when I think about teenage Tony, I see someone like that Peter-kid.”

“Really?” Pepper’s eyes went wide.

“I should have been so lucky”, Tony grumbled, “I’ll never be as good as that boy.”

Howard was completely silent. He seemed to have felt the distance Tony had put between them, too. Something must have happened between them, well, will happen between them. Peggy had her suspicions, he put his company and SHIELD before anything. It went that far that Tony had called Jarvis ‘dad’ until he was almost four years old. Peggy wasn’t a betting woman, but that seemed like the likely reason for the distance.

Behind them she heard steps getting closer.

“Oh, this should be good”, Tony commented.

“Peter, slow down, what’s going on?” Just like she’d recognize her little Tony, Peggy’d recognize that voice anywhere…

“Oh my…”, she gasped, and Tony softly nodded.

“What’s going on in here?” The door opened and she turned around, turned to the man she once loved, who died so many years ago. “Steve?”

“Peggy?”

“I thought you were dead!” She walked up to him, touching his arm, making sure that he’s real, and not just a figment of her imagination. “Did we die after all?”

She looked up at the blue eyes, that were filling with tears, and before she knew it, she was in his arms.

“I missed you so much!”, Steve whispered.

“I missed you, too”, she stammered, “But what… I mean… How…?” She leaned out of the embrace and looked up at him.

“I could ask you the same thing”, he laughed, wiping a tear from his face.

“That brings our WW2 vets count to 4.”

“Who’s the fourth one?”

“That’d be me.” She turned to the door, where Bucky was leaning against the frame.

“James Buchanan Barnes. You fell off a train!” Oh wow, this just got wilder and wilder.

“Miss Carter!” He smiled and did a curtsy. “Sorry, by now it should be Mrs, right?”, he grinned.

“How do you… Right, the history books…”

“And the Captain America exhibition!”, Peter threw in.

“You got your own exhibition?”

“Yeah, well, we’re all in that. He is”, he nodded at Bucky, “you are”, he squeezed her shoulder, “and you are, too.” He walked over to Howard and shook his hand. “Long time.”

“That it was…” Howard was still in shock and looked him up and down. “You don’t look a day older than in ’45.”

“Not bad for 101, don’t you think?”

“I look even better, and I’m already 102”, Bucky laughed.

“Debatable”, Steve grumbled and boxed his arm.

After the initial surprises and shock had died down, the topic shifted to the issue at hand: how to get Howard and Peggy back?

“Do you have to get back?”, Steve quietly whispered with a smirk.

“I’m married with kids, remember?”, she grinned back.

“And you are taken!”, Bucky hissed over with played outrage.

“You are?” Peggy looked between Steve and James. “Oh, you are!” She couldn’t help the grin that spread on her face. “I should have guessed it… How did it happen?”

“I have to thank it to you”, James smiled.

“Me? Really?”

“Well…”, Steve blushed a little. “I don’t know if I can tell you that without messing up the timeline?”

“So, we met again?”, Peggy guessed.

“You’re still alive, when I get out of the ice. You basically told me to move on, start fresh. And I did”, he smiled as he grabbed James’ hand.

“I’m happy it worked out for you then.”

“Oh my god, it’s really true.”  
The door flew wide open, and a bunch of people stood in the doorway, their chins on the ground.

“Gossip spreads fast in here”, Tony remarked drily. “Come in, get your inner fanboys, -girls and geeks out before you implode.”

“Hi, hi, Agent Carter, I am so incredibly happy to meet you! I’m Clint Barton, I work for SHIELD, well, I worked for SHIELD until…”

“Clint, we gotta keep the timeline intact…”, Tony remembered him.

“Right”, he nodded, “sorry, spoilers”, he chuckled awkwardly. “Anyways, it’s a real honour to meet you.”

“Thank you, Clint.” She shook his hand and tried hard not to grin as he squealed.

“Chill, man. Hi, I’m Natasha.“ A redheaded woman pushed past the man. “You’re like my idol, scratch that, my absolute hero, it’s such an honour!”

“Thank you.” Wow. Peggy was only slightly overwhelmed, as a Dr Bruce Banner introduced himself and shook her hand, followed by Tony’s college roommate and the most magnificent man Peggy had ever seen; all of whom didn’t really give Howard all that much attention.

“Wow, our little Tony grows up to work with the Norse god of thunder, super soldiers and who knows what else…” Peggy chuckled. “I’m so proud of you, boy.”

“Thanks, Aunt Peg.” Tony’s ears got all red, and he looked down, trying to hide his flushed face, a gesture she knew all too well… Some things don’t change, not even in around forty years.

Pepper smiled over at him, and it looked like she put her hand in his. She was definitely not just his CEO. And judging by that engagement ring on her finger, her little Tony was really all grown up.

“So, about that getting back home thing… Are we going to miss the wedding?”, she smiled, locking eyes with Tony.

“What wedding?” Howard looked around everybody that had assembled, looking for the couple.

“We don’t have a date yet.” Tony ignored his father and smiled back, a little sheepishly.

“You’re engaged?” Howard’s eyes went wide. “When? How? With whom?”

Tony stayed quiet and Pepper waved her hand, the ring glinting in the light.

“Oh wow. That’s a beautiful ring. Good taste, son.”

“Yeah, he has”, Pepper grinned, clearly not talking about the ring.

“Your taste isn’t that bad either”, he grinned back.

“Really? At first, I actually thought it was pity…”, Rhodey snickered.

“You’re just jealous”, Tony shot back, “that I managed to land the one woman that’s as hot as my god mother…”

“Anthony, that is just wrong on some many levels. Flattering, yes, but you know how far flattery goes with me.”

“I know, it only works on Jarvis”, he answered, his head hung low.

.

“Boss, I have a message from May Parker, asking when Peter is coming home tonight.”

“Oh shit, is it that late already?”

“It’s not that late”, Peter shrugged.

“Kid, you have school tomorrow. No, no, no, don’t give me the puppy eyes. You have a bedtime for a reason, young man.” Tony sounded resolute, stern even. Very fatherly, actually.

“Ugh, fine.”

“Happy is out, so I’ll drive you.”

“I can swing, it’s alright.”

“Nuh-uh. It’s already dark out, you’re not swinging by yourself through town. I’m driving you. Period. FRIDAY, let May know that we’re on our way.”

“Message is delivered.”

“Thanks, FRI!”

Wow, the way the boy talked to the invisible voice, was very bizarre. Peggy was not sure, where the voice came from or what exactly it was or how it worked, but it seemed very helpful.

What really caught her interest, was how Tony acted with the teen though. She would have to have a conversation with him about the child, what their relationship was and how it ended up being such a wonderfully fatherly thing.

“Steve, Barnes, you’re in charge of all this.” Tony gestured vaguely around the room. “Get the guest rooms ready; I’ll be back in an hour or so.”

Peggy would have joined them, but Tony clearly needed to get out of here, away from all the drama, let it sink in.

“Thanks, honey”, she smiled over.

“I’ll see you two in the morning”, he smiled, before he and Peter left the room.

“Alright then, Howard, Peggy, come with us and we’ll get you settled.”

“Thanks, Steve. I think we can really do with a good night’s sleep…”

* * *

“Are you alright?” Peter’s concerned stare seemed to drill itself into what was probably Tony's soul.

“What do you think?”, he answered, a bit rougher than he intended.

Peter turned back, stared out the window. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for. Unless you did something, you need to confess to me…” He glanced over at Peter who shook his head.

“Nope. I’ve been good. Santa would be proud”, he grinned.

“Alright. Stay on his good-kids-list.”

“I have been for 17 years!”

“I am so proud of you”, Tony chuckled. Man, leave it to the kid to always make him laugh.

“Ok, so I know it’s weird, but if you want to talk… I have a lot of daddy-issues-experience.”

“Alright.” Tony snorted a laugh. “Sorry, it’s not something I should laugh about.” He tried to look contrite, but it probably came off as a weird grimace.

“Don’t worry about it”, he chuckled.

They rode on in silence. Tony wanted to break it, but all questions about school, decathlon or lego sets seemed wrong right now.

“I’m sorry”, he apologized eventually.

“Why?”, Peter asked, “if I have nothing to apologize for, neither do you.”

“I know. Still… Howard is just… It just drudges up so many old feelings, memories.”

“Happy’s not really out, is he?”

“Nope. Had to get out of there. But don’t think you’re just my excuse, ok? Because you’re not, you’re really not. I’m happy to do this and be here for you.”

“It’s alright, Mr. Stark, I know what you mean”, he smiled over. “And don’t worry. You’re not like him. And I can say that with absolute certainty, since I am the one who had a few dads and lost pretty much all of them, too.”

“I know you’re trying to be all encouraging and shit, but it sounds actually super sad…”

“Yeah… What I’m trying to say is that you’re really good at the job. Not that you’re my dad, but I mean, you know? You’re not like Howard.”

“And you can be certain about that based on what?” Tony knew, he sounded bitter, but he couldn’t help it. How could he not be bitter about that? With a father like Howard, how could Tony ever turn out any better at the job? Sure, he saw himself as a sort of father figure for Peter, but only sort of. The kid still called him Mr. Stark, didn’t sound all that fatherly, now, did it?

“I don’t really remember my dad, so my experience is based on Uncle Ben, who helped me with my homework, took care of me when I was sick, was always ready to listen to my issues, who plain and simple was there, when I needed him. You’ve done all these things for me; you do all this for me.”

Oh fuck. Tony tried to fight the tears filling his eyes.

“I don’t want to force myself on you or anything, I just want you to know that whatever doubts or worries Howard brings out in you, well, they’re wrong.”

“Alright Pete, you gotta stop now or I’m gonna start crying.”

“Sorry”, he mumbled, his face getting red, “I didn’t want to make this worse.”

“You didn’t. Believe me, you didn’t. I wish I knew what to say right now, but I don’t really handle emotions all that well…”

“You don’t have to say anything.”

“Damnit, Peter, how can a twelve-year-old deal so much better with that stuff than me?”, Tony groaned.

“First of all, I’m seventeen. And I may have practised that speech for a while, waiting for the right time to say this”, he admitted meekly.

“Oh.” So, Peter really meant it! It wasn’t just some ‘spur-of-the-moment’ thing.

“I’d like to come the next few days over to the compound, if that’s cool. I’d really love to get to know Mrs. Peggy! She is so awesome and badass, and I really like to talk more to her.”

“Sure thing, I can tell Happy to pick you up after school.” Tony appreciated the change of topic and was happy to talk about one of his favourite people.

“Cool.” Even in the dark car, Tony could see the boy beaming with excitement. “And she is your godmother?”

“That she is”, Tony nodded.

“That is so crazy amazing!”

“You know you’re an Avenger, right? Pretty nice, too.”

“Yeah, but she’s Peggy Carter, founder of SHIELD, fought in WW2 and is like the most badass woman!”

“I can’t argue that. You know, she bought me the material for Dum-E.”

“Awesome!”

“I would introduce them, but from her perspective, I haven’t gotten it yet.”

“That’s so confusing…”

“Tell me about it!”, Tony laughed, “in her eyes, I just turned 5!”

“And all of a sudden, you’re 50.”

“49.”

“Of course.” Peter tried to look earnest, but that cheeky grin shone right through.

Tony shot the kid an angered glare, but broke out in a grin as well.  
“Alright, we’re here, get out before I get back at you for that one.”

“Please, you love me way too much for that”, the boy shot back, before he wrapped himself around Tony. “You know, I love you just as much.” And with that, he jumped out the car and disappeared in their apartment building.

And Tony sat in his car, absolutely flabbergasted, dumbstruck and emotional.

Oh wow. Oh WOW! He had no idea, what to do, think or feel. For as long as he could remember, Tony thought he’d just fail at being a dad, at caring for someone. That’s what he expected, being met with defiance, disinterest… Sure, he tried his best to break the cycle of shame, but never thought, he’d actually succeed!

“Boss, I have Pepper on the line. She asked me to call as soon as you dropped off Peter.”

“Uhm, yeah, alright.”

“Tony, hey, got Peter home?”

“He said he loves me”, Tony sighed as a wide grin tugged at the corners of his mouth.

He heard his fiancée chuckle. “Of course, he does.”

“What? No, Pepper, seriously, Peter said I’m a great dad and that he loves me!” He didn’t understand what was so funny about that.

“I’ve been trying to tell you that for a while, but it’s great that it finally clicked.”

“Huh.”

“You on your way back?”

“Just pulling out the parking space.”

“Good. I might have a tub of ice cream, I just opened, and you know my restraint, when it comes to ‘Hunk-A-Hulk-A-Burning-Fudge’.”

“As long as this lack of restraint doesn’t also extend to Bruce, I’m alright with that.”

“Damnit, you found me out”, she snickered.

“Wow, just wow”, Tony deadpanned. “Breaking up Pepperony and the Sciencebros in one swift motion, respect Ms. Potts.”

He could basically see her shaking her head. “You really got into the shipnames and fanfics, huh?”

“What can I say, my pseudo-son is a child of the internet. I really don’t want to know about memes and stuff like that, but that just rubs off, when you’re around Peter.”

“That’s alright.” She was silent for a moment, before she continued. “It’s really great, to meet the woman that raised you.”

“Getting a glimpse of my past should explain a lot about me.”

“Oh, it definitely does. But you know that I don’t care about your past. I love you, who you became, who you are. Because that’s a damn good person. And sure, Peggy Carter had her hand in that, but it’s all your work; you worked on becoming the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist I can’t wait to marry.”

“Why is everybody so damn emotional and lovey-dovey today? Pep, you know I love you more than life itself, but I have no idea what to say to that.” And, for the umpteenth time today, he was close to tears again.

“You don’t have to say anything. Now hurry up, or I’ll eat all the ice cream by myself.”

“That is a damn good motivator”, Tony chuckled.

“I know. That’s why I’m saying it. See you in a few?”

“Definitely.”

“Good. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

* * *

“So, you’ve been back for eight years already?”

“Yeah”, Steve nodded. “Time really flies…”

“Tell me about it, yesterday was still 1975…”, Peggy laughed.

She and Steve sat side by side, each a coffee in hand, just catching up. Like you did, as two hundred-year-olds. Well, technically, she would be 98, but still. It felt like a very bizarre dream, and she had to pinch herself a couple of times this morning to make sure, she didn’t dream all of this up.

“I would really like to ask you what’s going to happen in the next few years, well, my next few years.”

“I was under the ice, remember? I didn’t live through it.”

“So, you didn’t catch up? Captain America, not knowing what happened to his country for the last forty years? How very patriotic.” Peggy shot him a challenging glare, and Steve just cracked up.

“I’m sorry, Peg, but scolding me for not being patriotic really doesn’t work any more. I may have committed a teensy bit of treason, technically I might even be a war criminal…”

“Excuse me?” Peggy felt her chin hitting the floor. Her Steve, a war criminal? Treasonous? “Steven Grant Rogers, you have to be kidding me.”

“And it’s not the worst part”, he admitted contrite, his face deep red and completely avoiding her gaze.

“What did you do?”

“I totally screwed over Tony.”

No. Not her little boy! “You did WHAT?” She boxed his shoulder, hard. And, even though he was a super soldier, it looked like it hurt. Good. “I can’t believe you. You… you…” Peggy was speechless.

“I’m so sorry. It was a really stupid and messy situation and I didn’t handle it very well. But it’s all sorted now!”, he was quick to add, as he finally looked at her, seeing the very pissed off expression she tried to convey.

“You screwed over my little boy? I can’t believe you.”

“Well, I mean, your little boy isn’t an innocent five-year-old anymore…”

“You know, forget what I said. I really don’t want to know what happened, or what will happen.” She shook her head.

“Uhm, Stevie?” James put his head through the door. “I don’t want to disturb you two, but I really can’t be alone with Howard. You know, because of… reasons…” His face was deep-red, and Steve quickly got up.

“Shit, yeah, sorry, I completely blacked that out.”

Peggy was curious, as to what had happened between James and Howard, that had him so… apologetic. She would probably have to wait a few years to find out, though.

“Is Tony not up yet?” She hadn’t seen him, since he left to take Peter home yesterday.

“He probably is, but I think he wants to be alone with Howard about as much as I do”, Buck shrugged.

“What happened between all of you?” She couldn’t keep all the curiosity in anymore.

“Uhm… Spoilers?”

“Yeah, I figured. Alright, Steve, you keep Howard company, Bucky, show me where to find my boy.”

“Yes ma’am!” He led her to an elevator. “FRIDAY, bring Peggy to the penthouse, please.”

“Of course.” Was that voice everywhere?

“Thanks, James.”

“Anytime.” Just as the elevator doors closed, he winked at her, and suddenly, she moved upwards.

“Uhm, FRIDAY?”, she tried.

“How can I help you?”

“What is your task domain?”

“I am an artificial intelligence, created by Tony Stark. It is my area of responsibility to coordinate all communication within this building and the Avengers.”

“Alright, that’s impressive.”

“Thank you, Agent Carter. And may I say, it is an honour to meet you.”

“Uh… Thanks.”

With a ‘ping’, the doors opened, and Peggy walked out into a giant living room, with the most beautiful view.

“Hello Peggy.” Pepper walked over, smiling widely. “Had a good night?”

“Yes”, she smiled back, “thanks for asking. I’m sorry, I’m just barging in here like that…”

“It’s alright”, the woman laughed as she put her hair in a ponytail. “I assume you’re looking for Tony.”

“Both of you”, she answered, “I have a feeling, he can’t really face me and his father without his rock.”

Pepper stayed silent, but the smile spreading over her face radiated gratefulness and sorrow at the same time. “I’m sorry”, she eventually answered, “he’s taking this harder than you deserve.”

“I’m guessing, things between him and his father deteriorated even more? I mean, Howard is an extreme workaholic, Maria is basically a single mother at this point”, Peggy recounted her experiences.

“Unfortunately, yes”, Pepper nodded, speaking softly. “As I take it, Jarvis was his go-to father figure.”

“Yeah, only about a year ago, from my perspective, Tony stopped calling Jarvis ‘dad’.”

“Oh damn.”

The two women were silent. Peggy used the moment to take all about Pepper in that she could. She was beautiful, yes, but Peggy could see how she exuded confidence, intelligence and so much love for her boy. The worry about him was clear in her eyes, but it quickly dropped, when they heard steps getting closer.

“Morning, Aunt Peg.”

“Good Morning, Tony.” She smiled over at him, at the man, who was no longer five years old.

“I was thinking, maybe Howard could explain what kind of machine he was building, and I’ll see what I have in my labs.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“Great. Let’s get to it, then.”  
He linked his arm with Peggy’s and together they headed back to the elevator.

Peggy knew, that the desire to get them back to their own time didn’t stem from malice. Tony was overwhelmed and, contrary to his five-year-old self, emotionally stunted, which was no surprise, given what Pepper told her. And, as much as Peggy would like to talk him through everything, she knew him well enough to know that he’d be stonewalling her, unless he was ready to talk.

“I should warn you”, Tony suddenly broke the silence, “Peter will come by again this afternoon, he is so excited to talk to you, get to know you. Just so you know, he probably won’t leave your side.”

“That’s alright”, she laughed, “reminds me of someone else I know…” Gently, she poked Tony’s side.

“Yes, you said that before, but trust me, as someone who has actually seen me as a teenager, he is nothing like me, and that is a damn good thing.”

“Listen, honey, I don’t know what happened in the last years, what you went through, what you did. Even if there may have been a few bad decisions involved…”

“A few?”, he snorted. “Yeah, well, trust me, a handful of years ago, you would not have been that proud of me.” Tony stared straight ahead, not daring to look over at her. His face was stone cold, an expression she knew from Howard, shutting every emotion down, trying not to show his true feelings.

“I know, I can’t make you believe me. All I can say is that these bad decisions, whatever they were, how many of them were there, they don’t make a character. They don’t make your character. And deep down, you know it, too. That’s why you pulled it around, got yourself a fantastic fiancée, leading a team of superheroes, and doing wonders with that boy Peter. If that’s not a good person… Well, then I don’t want to be one.”  
She gently nudged his shoulder, before turning ahead again.

“Thank you.” It was a quiet mumble, barely audible, but it was all she needed.

“Let us build a time machine, then!”

* * *

What the absolute fuck was going on? Tony was about to build a time machine with his dead father. This shit could not be real, it just couldn’t. He and Rhodey sat together with Howard, who described what he worked on, some quantum mechanics theory of Hank Pym’s.

“Sorry, sorry, I’m late, my FBI-Guy didn’t believe that the genius Ironman needed my help.” Scott barged into the room, his usual blabbering self. And even though Tony was not in the mood for his gibberish, he worked with Pym and was a pretty smart engineer and so the best shot they had of getting Howard and Peggy back to their own time.

“Hey Scott, you’re just in time.”

Scott barely waved at the Avengers; he directed all his attention to Howard. “You’re actually Howard Stark. Holy shit.”

“Hello, Mr Lang I presume?”

“Please, call me Scott.” He held his hand out and vigorously shook Howard’s hand. “Wow, Hank told me quite a bit about you.”

“I hope, not all bad.”

“He definitely praised your intelligence.” That was a very polite answer; Tony was very aware that Pym didn't have too much love left for Howard.

“And my son tells me that you’re the expert on quantum mechanics?”

“Yup”, he nodded proudly, “spend some time in the quantum realm, so yeah, I know a thing or two.”

“You’ve been to the quantum realm? How are you still alive?”

And that was the point, Tony shut down. Howard was more excited about Scott’s accomplishments than he was about Tony being engaged. What did he expect? Nothing, that was just it… He expected nothing, and still was disappointed.

Howard didn’t even seem to notice, when Tony got up and walked out, he was so focused on Scott.

Oh, was he fucking jealous of Antman? No, no, no, this just got worse and worse.

“Hey, Tones, you alright?”

  
Tony was so caught in his thoughts; he didn’t even see Rhodey following him.

“Fuck”, he sighed, “I’m… I’m fucking done.”

“I can’t blame you. Come on, let’s get you a cup of tea or something.”

“Cup of tea?” He shot his friend a quizzical stare.

“Well, I’m not giving you coffee, you’re already way to on edge…”

“Alright, can’t do any harm I guess…”

.

“Honey, I thought you and Howard were building our way home?”

“Well, Scott’s there now, doubt he’ll miss me.” Tony couldn’t help but sound bitter. “So, we thought, we’d grab a cup of tea.”

“Tea?” Pepper looked incredulous.

“Rhodey’s idea”, Tony shrugged, before he sat next to his fiancée, who leaned against him.

“Who is Scott?”, Peggy asked.

“He works with Hank Pym, dates his daughter. He’s an expert on quantum mechanics”, Rhodey explained.

“And Capsicle’s biggest fan”, Tony added.

“Capsicle, really?” Peggy raised her eyebrows. “You’re better than that, Tony.”

“I like it”, Bucky grinned.

“I swear to whoever’ll listen”, Tony groaned, “if you make some sort of inappropriate comparison about eating popsicles, I’ll tell Howard what you did.”

“Oh my god!” Steve got beet-red, and Bucky stared back at him with wide eyes. “As if I’d make comments like that in front of his ex-girlfriend.”

“Don’t worry, James, you might remember I’m not that delicate”, Peggy chuckled, “and I assume that what Tony might tell Howard has to do with the reason you didn’t want to be alone with him this morning?”

“Oh god.” Tony dropped his head on the table. “This is a fucking nightmare.”

As he looked back up, he saw Peggy shaking her head. “What happened, that Steve commits treason and my sweet, little boy uses language like that?”

A chuckle went through the kitchen at the ‘sweet, little boy’ notion, but Tony decided to ignore it. “It all started, when Obe…” He looked up at Pepper. “That’s spoilers, right?” As she nodded, he just shrugged. “Long story short, Rogers left me for Barnes.”

“Huh. I wish I could say that this clears everything up, but I’m about as lost as yesterday, when I landed on that rooftop.”

“Sorry, Aunt Peg, I don’t think we can tell you, without majorly fucking up the timeline.”

“That’s alright, honey, I guess I’ll just have to find out, the long way ‘round.”

Silence fell over the room. Suddenly, Steve’s laughter broke through it, though.

“What is it?”

“I just had the weirdest thought.”

“How much weirder than reality can it be?”

“It’s just… You know, if I never went in the ice, well, chances are you’d call me Uncle Steve and I’d be your godfather.”

“Oh. My. God.” Tony’s face fell, and his mind went completely blank for a moment. Eventually, he had to chuckle too and looked over at Steve. “Rogers, that might be the scariest thing you ever said to me.”

“Tony, show your godfather some respect!” With a scolding look, Rhodey put a cup of tea in front of him.

“Well then, Uncle Steve…”

“Oh, that sounds so wrong!”, Steve shuddered.

“Yeah, I mean I’m really sorry about your heartbreaks, but I think it’s not that bad that he died…”

“Aw, thank you, how kind”, Steve scoffed.

“But that’s the trippy thing”, Rhodey threw in, “you wouldn’t know it any differently. They’d just be Aunt Peggy and Uncle Steve.”

Tony stared at Steve a little more, trying to picture a life where he'd be his Uncle Steve. “No, I’m sorry, but I just can’t picture you in a sort of father-figure-position.”

“I don’t blame you”, Steve shrugged, “me neither…”

“But that’s alright, Stevie”, Bucky consoled, “at least we manage to keep Clint’s dog alive, when we watch him…”

“Exactly”, Steve laughed, “and so far we haven’t killed any plants!”

“Wow, I really lost the jackpot when I lost you”, Peggy remarked drily.

“Uff, that’s harsh!”

“It’s alright, things worked out ok for us, I think. No matter what happened in ’45 or ’75, we’re in a really good place, all of us”, he added reassuringly.

Tony looked around the room and had to agree. Pepper in his arm, Rhodey beside him, Peter on his way over and Steve and Bucky were happy, too.

“Not gonna lie, it was a tough road getting here”, Steve continued, “and in parts pretty ugly”, he admitted meekly. “But I think, things had to happen the way they did to get us here, so I would not change a thing.”

“Wow, he’s still really good at motivational speeches”, Peggy chuckled, after Steve’s monologue sunk in.

“Well, I just got it”, he grinned.

.

“Tony, honey, I get it’s tough down there, but I think you need to get back to the lab, tell Howard what you need him to know and show him that you’re just as swoon-worthy as Scott.”  
Aunt Peg could just read him like an open book, it was incredible.

“Why bother, though?”, he shot back, “it’s not gonna change anything.”

“You can’t keep avoiding him either.”

“And what am I supposed to say? ‘Hey, Howard, just so you know, you were a horrible dad, fucked me up wonderfully and I needed to reach my late forties to free myself from that, from you. But great, just when I thought I managed to do that, you show up on my doorstep and mess everything up again.’”

“Come here, honey.” Peggy put her arms around his shoulders and pulled him close. Only now Tony realized, that his eyes were wet, filling with tears. They sat in silence, Peggy gently rubbed his back and Tony felt like he was a kid again, coming to Aunt Peggy for consolation, for emotional support.

“I’m alright”, he mumbled after a while, and let go of her. “Thanks.”

She pressed a kiss against his forehead, and Tony had to chuckle. “I can’t tell you the last time I got a foreheadkiss.”

“In that case…” She kissed the same spot once again and smiled widely. “For good luck.”

“Thank you. Now nothing can go wrong anymore.”

.

“Son, there you are, perfect timing. Scott has just updated me on Pym’s research, and with your help, Peggy and I can go home.”

“But we really need your help to get it right.”

“Yes”, Howard continued, “since you’re twice as smart as the two of us combined, we can’t do it without you.”

“Uhm, sure.” Was that just a compliment? A real compliment? From his father? Huh, maybe Aunt Peggy’s kisses were lucky after all…

“Great! So, we’ll rebuild my machine, including Pym’s updates and then we should try and figure out how to time our travels instead of just flying around, aimlessly.”

“Sounds like a plan!”

* * *

“Thank you, Peggy.”

“For what?” She looked up at Pepper, not quite able to follow what she was hinting at.

“For talking some sense into Tony.”

“Oh, but that’s kinda my job, isn’t it?”, she smiled.

“I guess”, Pepper chuckled. “But still.”

“It’s alright. I think I have to thank you, instead. For taking care of my boy.”

“Well, our arrangement is a little different from yours. I need him just as much as he needs me”, she shrugged, a soft smile on her lips.

“Then I am so happy that you two found each other. Have we ever met?”

“Yes”, Pepper nodded, “I don’t think, I should tell you about this though.”

“No, it’s alright, I understand”, she nodded, “but that means I’ll die knowing my boy has a good life, which is a wonderful prospect for my future.”

Pepper stayed silent, but gratefully squeezed Peggy’s hand.

“How does Peter fit into your little family?” Peggy had to know, and Pepper would be able to give her an explanation, not clouded by stunted emotions.

“Tony recruited him, when the kid got superpowers. It started out as a mentorship. And somewhere along the way, the line between mentor and father started to blur and…”

“And now we’re family.” They turned to the door, where Peter stood, a little awkwardly, but smiling nonetheless.

“Hey Pete. You’re here early…”, Pepper grinned.

“I might have played a little sick…”, he admitted, staring at his toes.

“Oh Peter!”

“Please don’t tell Aunt May!”, he pleaded. “And maybe don’t tell Mr … Tony.”

“Mr Tony?”

“After yesterday, when we… you know…”

“I know”, Pepper nodded, “he told me.”

“Ok, well, I thought he would believe me, if I stopped calling him Mr Stark”, he explained.

“Peter, I would love to tell you that you’re an absolutely wonderful boy, if you hadn’t just skipped school”, Pepper scolded, albeit with a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

“But that’s for a good reason! I mean, how many more chances will I have to talk to The Agent Carter!” With an excited grin, he turned to Peggy. “None! So, what’s a few hours of Literature, compared to the chance of a lifetime!”

He looked between the two women, with the biggest puppy eyes. “Please don’t tell on me.”

“Peter, what did we say about the puppy eyes?”

“They only work on Tony…” He dropped his head again and Peggy had to bite down a chuckle.

“What?”

“Nothing, it’s just… I regularly have the same discussion with Tony, about the puppy eyes. You really remind me of the kid…”

“Oh.” His ears got red, and he scrunched his nose together and looked back on the floor, clearly unsure what to do with that.

“What do you say, should we check on him? He told me, you’re pretty smart, too, I’m sure he’ll appreciate all the help he can get. And so do I, I miss my little rascals.”

“You have kids too, right?”

“Yeah, two of them. Three, if you count Tony.”

“I think you should count him”, Peter decided, “from what I hear you deserve the parental title more than his dad.”

“Mhm, you heard all about that?”

“I heard enough.”

She exchanged a quick glance with Pepper, who seemed to think the same thing Peggy did: It might have started as a mentorship, but the relationship between Tony and Peter was definitely build on a lot of mutual worry, care and love.

“Shall we head to the lab then?”

.

“Hi Tony!” They were barely in the lab, when the kid called out for him.

“Hey Pete. You’re a lot earlier than I expected.” He raised his eyebrows and shot him a scolding look, he definitely learned from Jarvis.

“Well, we’re working on time travel right now, so I can always make up for it”, he grinned back. “Hey Scott! Mr. Stark.” He nodded at the other two men and Peggy could see the momentary confusion on Tony’s face, not being addressed with Mr. Stark.

“Spidey, hey, good you’re here, we can do with your help! And you… ohmyfreakinggodyou’rePeggyfreakingCarter!” The other man, presumably that was Scott, dropped the hammer he was holding and all but stumbled towards her.

“Scott Lang, I take it?”, she smiled, holding out her hand.

“Yes”, he gulped, “Scott, yeah, that’s me, I’m Scott.”

“You’re Hank’s son-in-law?”

“Well”, he chuckled nervously, “I mean, maybe one day, I would like to maybe, but Hope and I we’re just dating. It’s going well, really well, she is so amazing and I really love her, but…”

“Scott, breathe”, Tony called over.

“Yeah, right, sorry.”

“Wow, you’re freaking more than when you met Cap.”

“Without Peggy Carter there would be no Captain America, everybody knows that”, he stated matter-of-factly.

“I like you, Scott”, she smiled, before she sat down on a chair. “I don’t want to disturb you guys, but I’d really like to see my little boy in action.” She could barely finish the sentence, when all off a sudden, everything around her started to beep and a bunch of robots headed her way.

“Guys, GUYS!”, Tony yelled, “take it easy, there’s enough Aunt Peggy for everybody.”

The robots stopped, even moved a little bit back, but still stayed close to her, beeping almost excitedly, if you could say that about machinery.

“Tony, what is this?”

“Aunt Peggy, meet my robots. They already know and love you, and apparently missed you as much as I did. Meet Dum-E, Butterfingers and that’s U.”

“Hi. I’m sorry, I haven’t met you yet, but I am really looking forward!”

“They are absolute sweethearts”, Peter giggled, as he walked over and patted each of them; they all reacted with what almost sounded like a purr, leaning in to the boy’s touch.

“They have their moments”, Tony grumbled, albeit with all the love in his eyes.

“And they love their dad”, Peter added.

“Doesn’t mean they listen to me… Guys, are you gonna geek out over Aunt Peggy, or are you helping us over here?”

Their movement was hesitantly, but after carefully booping against her knee, all three wheeled over to Tony.

“You can cuddle with her later, alright? For now, we should get some shit done.”

It was adorable; Tony talked to the robots like they were children, and they acted like his kids as well! Leave it to Tony, to give a bunch of metal feelings.

And the way he worked with Peter… Helping, instructing, showing him how to work the tools, with which the boy was pretty good already. They probably worked together a lot, judging from the way Peter seemed to sense what Tony wanted him to do, knew where Tony needed him. If she didn’t know better, she would definitely see a father and son work together. But then again, that’s what they were. Blood doesn’t make you family, Tony learned that the hard way.

She watched Howard observing the duo. He looked disconnected, estranged from his son. From what Pepper told her, that was exactly, what they were. Maybe being here, Howard could learn a thing or two about being a father. It was sad though, that the person teaching him this, would be his own son.

“Put down the fire-extinguisher!” Tony’s yelling brought her back into the real world. “Dum-E, you know that after last time, you’re no longer on fire extinguisher duty. No, don’t give me that look, you know what you did.”

Peggy could hear two quiet beeps, before she watched Dum-E putting the extinguisher down.

“Alright, that’s more like it.”

“I’m scared to ask, but what did he do?”, she inquired.

“He doused his brother. U almost lost a few cogs, because the foam got in the wrong places. He’s alright now, Peter helped me fix him.” To proof that he was well again, U beeped a few times. “Dum-E has since apologized, but he is no longer allowed near the fire-extinguisher.”

“You grounded a robot?”, Howard asked astonished.

“Yes. How will he learn otherwise?”, Tony shrugged and went back to the circuitry he was working on.

Howard looked over at Peggy, who was just as astonished but a lot more amused by this situation.

Even though she came downstairs to watch her Tony work, Peggy couldn’t help but watch the robots, whirring around, fetching tools, following every order they got from Tony or Peter, and, every now and then, when they didn’t have anything to do, they wheeled over to her, gently nudging her leg, enjoying her petting them. This couldn’t get any more bizarre.

“Peter, your aunt has repeatedly tried calling you.” Of course, all that was missing was the ceiling voice. “I would suggest you call her back.”

“Sure thing, FRI. Uhm, can you call her, I’ve got pretty oily fingers…”

“Calling May Parker.”

It seems, his aunt found out, he ditched class. Peter seemed to know, too, he anxiously fidgeted with his fingers.

“Peter?”

“Heeeey, Aunt May, how are you?”

“That doesn’t matter, how are you?” She sounded more concerned than angry.

“I’m ok.”

“Are you sure? Your school just called to inform me you went home with a migraine.”

“Oh, yeah, about that…”

“Peter Benjamin Parker. I thought I was clear on ditching school for Spider-Man…” There was the anger.

“I’m not Spidermanning! Technically, I’m taking history and engineering classes…”

“Spending time with Tony and Steve does not count and you know that as well as I do.”

“Hello May, I fully agree with you on that”, Tony threw in, “in Peter’s defence, things are a bit more complicated than that though.”

“Tony, this better be a damn good reason, or Peter is grounded from the Avengers indefinitely.”

“I’m not sure, you want to know… It’s time travel...”

“I swear to everything that’s good in this world, if you’re ditching to get Doctor Strange to zap you around, you are extra grounded.”

“STEPHEN!” Tony and Peter’s faces dropped as they stared at each other, mouths gaping open.

“What? What is going on?”

“We are such idiots! We’re here building a time machine, and we got the freaking keeper of the time stone on speed dial!”

“You’re building a time machine?”

“Uhm, Aunt May, I'll explain later what’s going on. We need to go right now.”

“No, don’t you dare hang up on me!”

“It’s simple: Tony’s dad and Peggy Carter accidentally time travelled and landed in New York yesterday. Now we’re trying to find a way to get them back, and with Dr. Strange you might have given us just the solution”, Peter recapped.

“What is wrong with our lives that I don’t even question fucking time travel anymore? Peter, we’re gonna have a long talk about skipping school. All of us.”

“I know”, he mumbled. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too, May”, Tony apologized.

“You two better be. I’ll come to the compound after work and you can explain the whole situation. I’ll see you then.”

“Bye!”

“Call ended.”

“Ugh.” Peter dropped on the ground. “I’m sorry, I skipped school. And I’m sorry, I got May mad at you.”

“If I’m lucky, I’ll live to see my wedding day”, Tony mumbled, pulling the kid back to his feet. “For now, FRI, send a message to Strange, ask him to come here, please.”

“Message is delivered.”

“Thanks.”

“Who is Dr. Strange?”, Howard asked.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Tony, I’m sitting in the 21st century, watching my grown son build a time machine. What is weirder than that?”

“Alright”, he shrugged. “Dr. Stephen Strange is a wizard.”

“Sorry, I asked.”

It took all Peggy had to keep her mouth from gaping open. Now there were wizards? Any minute now she should wake up. This just couldn’t be real anymore.

Before she could voice her astonishment, orange flames lit up in the workshop, and suddenly a man stood next to Tony, in a long, red cape.

“Hey, what’s so urgent?”

“WHAT?” Howard cried out. Peggy would have screamed, too, if she had any sound left.

“Excuse me, where are my manners? I am Doctor Stephen Strange. And you… look very familiar…”

“Dr. Strange, may I introduce Howard Stark and Peggy Carter.”

“How did this happen?” He spoke with Tony, but the doctor eyed both time travellers curiously.

“Lab accident.”

“Huh, that’ll do it. And now you want me to turn back time?”

“Can you? I mean, get them back to their own time?”

“Probably…” He was quiet, pensive for a moment. “I should get to the sanctum, do my research, consult Wong. I’ll get back to you later, alright?”

“Thanks, Stephen. I appreciate it.”

“No problem.” He nodded at everyone, and before Peggy could say anything, he disappeared in orange lightning.

“Great, Stephen’ll know what to do”, Tony nodded, but the smile on his face dropped fast, as he saw Peggy and Howard’s faces. “You guys alright?”

“I… I…” She tried to shake off the first shock. “I think I need a drink.”

.

Fifteen minutes and two shots of whiskey later, Peggy felt better. Still utterly confused, but better.

“You have a wizard. You have a freaking wizard!” Howard took a little longer.

“I think, they prefer ‘Mystique Arts’”, Peter threw in.

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s helping, kiddo.”

“Sorry.”

“No, don’t be, it’s alright”, Peggy assured him, “I appreciate you trying to help us.”

“Of course”, the kid nodded, “I get how weird this must be… I mean, one morning I woke up and could suddenly stick to walls. That stuff is freaky.”

“You can stick to walls?”, Howard cried out.

Peggy felt her eyes going bigger, too.

Instead of explaining himself, Peter jumped up and walked around on the ceiling. “I didn’t call myself Spider-Man because I like the animal.”

Peggy’s chin was on the floor and she couldn’t help but stare at the boy.

“What’s going on?”, she breathed, looking over at Tony.

“Don’t look at me”, he defended himself, “that ain’t my doing.”

“Oscorp”, Peter explained, as he jumped back down with a backflip. “It’s a long story, I was bitten by a radioactive spider and now I got spider DNA.”

“Good thing I dug you up before Osborn the Goblin did”, Tony scoffed, “I still can’t believe you hung out with his son…”

“Can we please not talk about my ex-best-friend-turned-super-villain?”, he moaned.

“Sorry, kid”, Tony apologized and patted his shoulder.

It sounded like an incredible story, but Peggy wasn’t sure whether she could take any more of that stuff and instead poured herself another whiskey.

.

“Peter Benjamin Parker.” A woman stood in the door, her arms crossed and a very stern look on her face. This was probably his aunt.

“Hey Aunt May.” As soon as she had stepped through the door, Peter dove behind Tony, who tried hiding behind Pepper. Now, an angry aunt, Peggy could handle.

“You must be May Parker, it is nice to meet you.” She walked up to the woman, holding her hand out. “I am terribly sorry your nephew skipped school because of me.”

“It’s really true”, May goggled, “you’re really Peggy Carter.”

“Guilty as charged”, she smiled.

“Wow. It’s an absolute honour, ma’am.” May shook Peggy’s outstretched hand. “I… I am so sorry, I have no idea what to say.”

“Trust me, neither do I. I mean, the day before yesterday, this guy was still five years old, now he’s the leader of a group of superheroes, with a bunch of awesome spider- and robot children.”

“That’s gotta be trippy”, May chuckled. “And I assume you are Mr. Stark?”, she turned to Howard.

“Please, call me Howard”, he smiled and shook her hand. “I have to say, your nephew is very smart. I was very impressed earlier.”

Peter’s ears turned bright red and he scrunched his nose up. He might not be Howard’s biggest fan, but appreciated the compliment.

“Yeah, I’m amazed about that kid, too”, she answered before turning to Peter, staring at him silently.   
The kid peeked up from behind Tony’s shoulder, both of them having flushed faces and the exact same deer-in-headlights-look.

“I have to admit, I get it”, May shrugged eventually. “Doesn’t mean I’m not mad at you for skipping, especially for ditching without telling me.”

“I’m really sorry, Aunt May.”

“I know you are.”

“I’m sorry, too”, Tony apologized.

“Yeah… Well, I guess these are very special circumstances, so I might just let it slide. If”, she added emphatically, “you never keep your skipping school from me ever again.”

“I promise”, he nodded meekly, got up from his hiding spot behind Tony’s back and went in for a hug.

“Good. Same goes for you”, she pointed at Tony, “I demand to be kept in the loop.”

“Yes, of course. Sorry, I didn’t call you when he showed up.”

“I imagine his ‘please, don’t tell May’ was accompanied by a lot of puppy eyes.”

“I might be a little susceptible to that”, he admitted contrite.

“Ben was, too. He got over it by realizing that I’m a lot more dangerous than a disappointed Peter”, she shot back with a challenging grin.

“I am very aware of that.”

“Good. Now, spill. What happened here?”

.

“Oh damn.” As they had finished their story, May’s chin was on the ground. “How do our lives get even weirder? I thought it reached its limits with Peter’s powers and Alien invasions!”

“Alien Invasions?”

“Don’t worry, you’ll find out in time”, Tony shrugged.

“Not so sure I want to.”

“Hey, boss.” Calling out, Happy walked into the room. “Do you still need me to go and… May, hi! I… I didn’t know you were coming by today.” As soon as he saw her, his voice, his expression, even his posture changed.

“Hello Happy”, she smiled back, looking just as awkwardly smitten as he seemed to be with her. “I wasn’t planning on it, but you know how it is.”

“I am glad your plans changed”, he grinned, his cheeks flushing ever so slightly.

“Yeah, me too.”

It was adorable, everybody in the room seemed to think so. Well, almost everyone. Peter just turned around and if he were less polite, he would have definitely voiced his annoyance and embarrassment.

“It looks like this relationship is a little weird for Peter”, Peggy whispered over to Pepper.

“He’s coping”, she quietly giggled back. “To Peter, they are like you and Jarvis were to Tony, so you can imagine…”

Peggy had to chuckle at the notion of her and Jarvis, but got how it must make Peter feel.

“Mrs Agent Peggy Carter ma’am, would you like to get a bowl of the best ice cream in NYC?”, Peter suddenly blurted out, clearly needing to get out of this situation as soon as he could.

“Well, back in my day… Oh, I sound so old!”, she laughed. “Anyways, we did always go to that little place, Caramba’s.”

“Oh, I remember!”, Tony smiled, “but they closed years ago.”

“What a shame! But yes, Peter, I am always up for ice cream.”

“Awesome!”, he beamed. “Let’s get going, then!” He held her arm out to her, and Peggy had to laugh as she linked her arm with his.

“You really are a gentleman, Peter.”

“Do you guys need a driver?”, Tony asked, but Peter was quick to answer.

“We do not! Leave Happy here and let him get all… sappy on my aunt or whatever…”

“Do you want FRIDAY to keep an eye on us?”, May asked with a shake of her head.

“Yes!”, Peter called back, Peggy wasn’t sure whether he meant it or not. “And the door stays open!”

“Is this revenge for me not letting MJ stay overnight?”

“No… Maybe… Doesn’t matter though, I want you home by ten and Happy, just remember, I do have superpowers and am stronger than half the guys in this building.” With an exaggerated wide smile, that definitely looked threatening, Peter led Peggy out of the room.

“Wow, Peter, you are really protective of your aunt.”

“Yeah, well, Spider-Man already got my uncle killed, don’t exactly want her any more involved in the superhero-world than necessary.”

What? But before Peggy could follow up, Tony walked up behind them.

“So, Happy’s quaking in his pants”, he chuckled. “And when I asked if you guys need a driver, I meant myself. If that’s ok with you.”

With the widest smile on his face, Peter just held out his other arm. Tony linked their arms and snorted a laugh. “You are ridiculous, you know that?”

“I think that’s why you like me so much.” He quietly giggled to himself, before he abruptly stopped. “You know, maybe we shouldn’t go to Fredo’s”, Peter grinned.

“Peter, don’t start the guessing game and get to the point.”

“Ben’n’Jerry’s.”

“Oh.” Tony’s face lit up as he smiled at the boy. “You little show-off.”

“Look who’s talking”, he shot back.

“The genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist”, Tony smirked.

“Boys, you’re both pretty”, Peggy stated, trying to be diplomatic. “Ice cream, remember?”

“Do you still have some?”

“Freezer’s full.”

“Alright”, Peter beamed, “Roof or garden?”

“Let’s leave that decision to the lady. What do you say, Aunt Peg?”

“I’m not quite following, but I like a nice view, so I’m gonna say roof.”

“Great! You go ahead, I’ll meet you there with the ice cream.” With that, Tony walked off in one direction, while Peter led her towards the elevator.

“FRI, to the roof please!” They immediately started moving.

“Pray tell, what exactly is the plan?”

“We’ll have ice cream, just not in the city but up here.”

“And what’s so special about that?”

“You’ll see”, the boy grinned. “It’s a surprise!”

“I do like surprises”, she answered, smiling along. Somehow around Peter it was impossible to remain stoic. Some people just had that quality, ingraining themselves in everybody’s heart. No wonder, Peter was so important to Tony.

The view from the roof was quite nice. Being upstate there wasn't the New York skyline to feast their eyes on, but plenty of greenery.

“I don't want to darken the mood, but I am sorry about your uncle.” For Peter it might have only been a passing thought, but his earlier statement stuck with Peggy.

“Thanks...” He didn't look up at her and judging from his reaction it could not have been that long ago.

“What was his name?”

“Ben”, the boy answered. “I'm sort of named after him, my middle name is Benjamin.”

“That's lovely! It's always be nice to be named after special and wonderful people.”

“Are you named after anybody?”

“Not as far as I'm aware”, she shrugged. “I mean, there are a few Margarets in my family tree, but as far as I know, none of them were instrumental in my parent's choice for my name.”

“I don't know of any Peter's that might have inspired my parents as well.”

“Here we go!”, Tony walked out of the door, interrupting their little family heart-to-heart, a wide smile on his face. “What do you feel like, Aunt Peg, Strawberry or Hazelnut?”

He held both containers out to her and she almost fell off the bench in surprise. There was 'Stark Raving Hazelnut' adorned with her little boy's face; 'Strawberry Slinging Spider-Man' had a comic-style drawing on it of the suit she had first met Peter in. “You got your own ice cream named after you?”, she cried out, “oh, this is fantastic!” She looked from Peter to Tony with a wide smile. “Now, I’ll definitely have to try both of them!”

.

“Mrs Agent Peggy Carter ma’am, can I ask you a favour?”

“Only if you call me by my name, and only that”, she answered. “Aunt Peggy is fine, too”, she added with a smile.

“Really?” His eyes went big and a giant grin spread over his face.

“I mean, technically, in this family tree, I’d be your grand-aunt, but I think we can leave that ‘grand’ out.”

“Ok”, the boy agreed. “So, Aunt Peggy”, he squealed a little with her name. On the other side of him, she saw Tony biting down his grin. “I wanted to ask if it’s ok, I mean, you’re welcome to say no, that’s totally fine and I definitely get it, if you don’t want to…”

“Get to the point, buddy”, Tony urged him.

“Alright, sorry.” A little shyly, Peter looked over at Peggy. “Would it be ok if I’d invite my girlfriend MJ and my best friend Ned here, to meet you?”

“Sure”, she nodded, “I would like that.”

“Yes? Omigod they’ll be so happy! I haven’t told them what exactly happened, I just said there’s some stuff at the compound, but if I tell them that it’s you? That’d be so cool!”

“How about you ask them to come tomorrow”, Tony suggested.

“Would that be ok for you?”, Peter asked Peggy.

“You know, the last appointment I had was about 45 years ago, so I’m free tomorrow”, she nodded with a grin.

“AWESOME!” He got his phone out and immediately started tapping on that screen. No buttons, nothing, just the screen, reacting to his touch. Freaky.

“I’ll send them a picture, so they’ll believe me.” He held his phone out in front of them. “Ok, now smile! Perfect!” Nothing happened, no flash, not even the sound of a shutter, but somehow the kid got what he wanted. Well, good for him…

A few minutes later, he read the answers out to them.

“So, this is from Ned, he’s like my best friend ever: _Is that who I think it is? Omgomgomgomg!_ That stands for Omigod”, he explained. “_I want to meet her, yes, definitely! Asdfghjkl!_ Uhm, that’s a keysmash. It’s for when you’re so excited you just smash on the keyboard.”

“Alright.” That modern slang was quite something…

“This is from MJ, Michelle, she’s my girlfriend and she’s so smart and awesome and badass”, Peter cooed, his eyes gleaming with adoration and excitement. “Anyways, she writes: _This better be real, seriously, you better not be playing or I’ll dump your ass right in front of Flash._ Uff, that’s harsh…”

“To be honest, you would deserve it”, Tony chuckled.

“Yeah, I guess… But it sounds like they’re both in! Thank you so much, it means so much to me!”

“Of course, Peter, you are my grand-god-son, after all!”

.

They were in the middle of dinner, a fantastic pasta dish, when that weird orange light flamed up again, and the wizard from this morning stood in front of them.

“Sorry, I didn’t want to disturb your dinner”, he apologized.

“Don’t worry, Stephen. You hungry?”, Tony offered.

“No, thank you. I can come back later, though.”

“Nonsense, sit. So, any news yet?”

“Indeed”, the wizard nodded, “it seems that with the help of Wong I can get you two back to your time.”

“Wow, that’s fantastic!”, Peggy beamed.

“Thank you”, Howard smiled, “I can’t even begin to describe how glad I am.”

“Of course”, Dr Strange nodded. “I do need some preparation time, so I won't be able to help out until tomorrow afternoon.”

“Today is Friday, right?”, Peggy asked, and got a nodded answer. “Well, I already have plans with Peter tomorrow, and I would like the proper time to end this… vacation, so how about we stay the weekend?”

“Of course”, Stephen nodded, “I’ll prepare myself for Sunday afternoon if that’s alright?”

“Perfect”, Howard nodded.

“Then let me let you get back to your dinner. Have a lovely evening.” And as quickly as he appeared, he was gone again.

* * *

MJ had been standing in front of her house about 15 minutes before Happy said that he’d be there. But she was just so excited! Ever since Peter had invited her and Ned over to the compound to meet The Agent Carter TM, she’d been a mess; a completely nervous wreck just bursting with anticipation. Even though she knew that Peter wouldn’t lie to her, especially about something like that, MJ felt like she was being punk'd. Sure, her boyfriend had part spider DNA, could stick to walls and was strong like nobody’s business, but time travel?

Finally, Happy pulled up in front of her and she climbed inside to a very giddy Ned.

“Hey MJ”, the guys greeted her.

“Hi. So, Happy is this for real? I mean…”

“Yes”, he interrupted her, “it’s real. I’ve been with them for two days and I still can’t believe it.”

“Damn.”

The drive to the compound felt like an eternity. This was even more nerve-wrecking than the first time she came here and the time she came over for an official meet-the-family with Mr Stark and Pepper, when she and Peter started dating.

“Hey FRI, tell Peter we’re here”, Happy called out as the building came into view.

“He’ll greet you by the door”, the AI answered.

And yes, as Happy stopped in front of the building’s doors, Peter already stood there with a wide beaming grin. And maybe, just maybe, MJ’s heart skipped a beat when she saw his smile. Though that could also be due to the fact that Mrs Peggy freaking Carter was somewhere inside this building.

“Hey guys”, Peter greeted them and gave MJ a soft kiss. “You’re already awaited.”

Ok, here it goes. Hand in hand they walked to the common room; MJ held onto Peter’s hand for dear life and he encouragingly squeezed it, before he opened the door. And holy freaking cow, it was really her. Sandwiched between Mr Stark and Mr Rogers sat the woman, MJ had done her AP history assignment about.

“Aunt Peggy, this is Ned and MJ”, Peter introduced them. MJ was way to overwhelmed at the sight of one of her personal heroes to really give Peter calling her ‘Aunt Peggy’ any thought.

“Well, hello!” With a wide smile Agent Peggy Carter walked up to them. “It’s so nice to meet you, I already heard so much about you two.”

As aware as MJ was of her mouth gaping wide open, she couldn’t do anything about it; she was completely mesmerized.

“Peter has barely shut up about you all morning. I'm Howard. It’s a pleasure to meet you”, the man introduced himself, holding out his hand.

“Hi”, Ned eventually managed to get out.

“How about we all take a seat?”, Agent Peggy Carter suggested, breaking the stunned silence and Peter pulled his two dumbfounded friends behind him, pushing them right on either side of him on a couch.

Since nobody really seemed to know what to say, Peter took over. “So, Thursday. I was out on patrol after school and I told you that I was about to get to Diego’s, get a bite to eat”, he remarked to MJ, “and all of a sudden I stand in front of them!”

* * *

As Peter recapped what had happened the last few days, Tony leaned back and was content just watching the teens reacting to Aunt Peggy and his dad and them reacting to the teens. He was a little surprised by their stunned silence, Tony had expected a reaction more like Peter’s or Scott’s, just fangirling over Aunt Peg; at least that’s what he had expected Ned reaction to be. MJ was more like Pepper, more restrained, asking fewer questions but each of them meaningful and intelligent, but she was remarkably quiet as well; holding onto Peter’s hand as if it were her lifeline. And it was only a small movement, but Peter gently brushed his fingers over her hand, it probably felt as calming and soothing as it looked.

Pete in his first real relationship… It was adorable to watch. What made it even better was that Peter actually came to Tony for advice every now and then! Not that Tony was that good at serious, committed relationships; just because he was engaged to Pepper it didn’t mean he knew how he did it. Thinking back, all his romantic gestures blew up in the most spectacular way, sometimes literally. Even though it backfired, Tony still stood by the giant plush bunny. Put a bit of dying in the mix, set her on fire and bam! Here comes love.

Since according to Peggy Peter was similar to Tony, it made sense that the kid would fall for someone who, just like Pepper, was a strong, independent woman.

And, while he wasn’t sure how someone as fantastically brilliant as Ms Potts would agree to spend the rest of her life with a mess like Tony, he could see why Michelle would fall for someone as sweet, kind and brilliant as Peter.

And it made Tony really proud. Not that he had actually raised the kid, but still. There was a lot about Peter to be proud of.

* * *

“We actually started building a time machine, like a real proper time machine! We should probably have used a DeLorean”, Peter snickered before finishing the story. “But then Aunt May gave us the idea to call Dr Strange and he found a way to get them back to the seventies.”

Peggy wasn't 100% sure yet what to make of the two kids sitting opposite her, holding onto Peter for dear life. From Peter's earlier descriptions and stories, she imagined them to be a lot bubblier and definitely more talkative.

“Uhm guys”, Peter hissed over, “you can talk to them.”

“But isn't this like... I don't know, some Back to the Future stuff?”, Ned shot back, “Like, step on a butterfly and we're never born?”

“I'm sorry”, Peggy threw in, “I don't quite follow.”

Thankfully, Ned took the bait. “I mean, you being here, doesn't that totally screw with the timeline? Should we even know that you're here, let alone talk to you?”

From the corner of her eye, she saw the other grown-ups grinning at Peggy tricking Ned into opening up and talking. “I don't think you need to worry too much about that. As long as we don't learn about all the big things coming our way, all of us will be alright.”

“Oh, that's good”, Ned sighed, visibly relieved.

“Yeah, so don't be afraid to talk and ask away.”

“Ok, so first of all I need to say that you're super awesome and one of my absolute heroes”, MJ blurted out and if Peggy read the reaction of Tony and the others correctly, her burst of emotion was something rather unusual.

“Thank you, darling”, Peggy smiled back at the girl.

“Of course, it's an honour!”

“It totally is”, Ned nodded in agreement, beaming just like Michelle did.

Peggy was in all honesty floored. Yes, of course she had tried to imagine how impactful her role as a woman in a man's world was or will be for girls like MJ. But actually seeing all that, living through it?

“You alright?” Tony nudged her side.

“Yes”, Peggy cleared her throat and smiled over at her little boy. “I'm fine. Slightly overwhelmed but over the moon to see what humanities future will look like.” She turned back to the teens. “The Spider-Three, a superhero-squad per excellence, en route to change the world.”

“I mean, technically he's the superhero”, Ned giggled nervously. “I'm just the Guy In A Chair.”

“If that were true, then MJ would be just Peter's love interest and damsel in distress”, Peggy commented. “Does that seem right to you?”

“I'd be scared to even consider that thought”, Ned made clear and MJ looked more than pleased at Peggy's assessment of her.

“You don't need powers to be a hero”, Peggy continued “I like to say that once you know your value, anybody else's opinion doesn't matter any more. From what Peter told me you are both so intelligent, loyal and genuinely fierce... Don't resign yourselves to the background. Cut the word 'just' out of your vocabulary. You're not just Spider-Man's assistant or girlfriend.” She locked eyes with Michelle. “You're the leader of the Academic Decathlon team, a strong and independent woman! And you”, she looked over at Ned, “you're an amazingly smart engineer and a damn good programmer. Those are the kinds of people we need to change the world. And yes, having superhuman powers or being the heir to one of the wealthiest and most well-known companies makes getting your voice heard so much easier. Trust me, I know”, she rolled her eyes. “I might not have had to deal with Spider-Man and Ironman but with Captain America and Howard.”

She looked over at the others, where Tony, Steve and Howard flushed in all the shades of pink and red. “Seriously, you should have heard the Captain America stories they broadcasted after the war ended.” Peggy could only shake her head thinking back on the horrible radio programme. “It was a never-ending tirade of poor helpless Peggy, being saved by her hero in the last second, so she could swoon in his strong arms.”

While everybody else stared at her with big eyes, Steve turned even redder. “Peggy, I'm so sorry about that”, he apologized, “I had no idea! The thought of you needing to be rescued... It's ridiculous!”

“Besides”, James laughed, “if anyone here would swoon, it'd be Steve.”

“All that sexism and misogyny”, MJ interrupted the laughter, “how did you get through that?”

“It isn't a walk in the park, I tell you that. There will be a lot of people, especially men, trying to sell you on all their stories and ideals, and you will have to compromise where you can, but only where your conscience lets you. Where you can't, don't. Even if everybody tries to convince you that their truths are the only acceptable truth; when the whole world tells you to move it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye and say: 'No, you move'.”

It was silent for a moment, before Peggy continued. “You know, it is such a privilege for me to see the future and to know that there are these fantastically strong women saving our present”, she smiled at Pepper, “and our future.” With that she looked back at Michelle.

“I feel really compelled to give you a hug right now”, Michelle got out after a few pensive moments of silence.

“Of course.” With a smile Peggy got up and held her arms out. “I will always accept a hug,”

Her movement was hesitant, but MJ got up and into Peggy's arms. “Thank you” she mumbled quietly and hugged the woman back.

“Any time, darling.”

* * *

The day went by like the blink of an eye. After their initial weariness, Ned and MJ warmed up and it didn't take long for the conversation to turn to more amusing pages.

And Peter was so overwhelmed, with all sorts of positive emotions that it was almost heartbreaking when Happy reminded everybody of the time and that he had to take Peter's friends back home.

“Why can't they stay over?”, he moped, trying to shoot Tony his best puppy eyes.

“Because I'm not letting you have a sleep-over with your girlfriend”, he made clear.

“Omigod”, he groaned and turned two or three shades redder. “It'd be all three of us anyways, and we could stay here in the common room where FRI'll keep an eye on us.”

“Nuh-uh.” Vehemently, Tony shook his head. “My roof, my rules young man.”

“It's alright.” MJ grabbed Peter's hand and grinned over. “It was already the best damn day. You can tell us more on Monday during Homeroom.”

“Excuse me?” Tony had his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

“She means during break after homeroom”, Peter quickly corrected, “once we've done all our work perfectly and diligently, like the good-working students we are.”

“I should hope so”, he grumbled.

“Ignore him”, Peggy smiled and pulled Ned into a hug. “It was wonderful to meet you and I wish you all the best for your biology exam next week.”

“Thanks”, he smiled as they broke away, “it was really fantastic to meet you, too.”

“It totally was”, MJ agreed, as Peggy hugged her, too.

“Agreed. Now, you two, don't forget to change the world, alright?”

“Never”, they promised.

Peter grabbed MJ's hand and together they followed Happy out to the car. “You're sure it's ok if I stay?”

“My Dad won't let you sleep over either”, MJ just shrugged. “So, spend as much time with your Aunt Peggy as you can. Why do you call her that?”

Peter's ears got a little red, as he thought of the talk they had the other day. “Well, she said that in this weird family tree, I'm kind of like her grand-nephew”, he explained with the proudest smile.

“That is pretty damn cool.” Proudly, Ned grinned over at him.

“You guys ready to head home?” Happy was already leaning against the hood of the car as the three teens made their way out of the building.

“As ready as I'll ever be...” Ned turned to Peter and one super-awesome-best-friends-handshake later, he climbed in the car.

“Feel free to message me later”, Peter smiled, before leaning in for a good-night kiss.

“Won't you be too busy with Aunt Peg?”, she deadpanned, but the grin shone right through in her beautiful eyes.

“You know you're the only girl I love.”

“What?”

The pair froze for a moment, as time seemed to stand still. Neither of them had ever even hinted towards the l-word and until now Peter hadn't given it too much thought. Their relationship just worked, it was wonderful and he trusted her, cared so much about her and MJ's pure existence left him at a loss for words. All that was probably what love was; Peter had never felt like this about anyone ever before and didn't want to feel like this about anybody that wasn't MJ. She was such a strong, genuine person, endlessly smart and creative and oh so beautiful...

“Uh, yeah.” Peter tried to clear his thoughts again. “Ok, this was super not romantic, for which I am really sorry. But yeah.”

“Peter, thanks to you I just got to spend the day with the woman I look up to, my absolute hero. I don't think it gets any more romantic than that”, she smiled, cupped his face and pulled Peter in for the softest and gentlest kiss. “I love you, too.”

“You do?” Peter couldn't believe his luck. This fantastic, intelligent and plain perfect girl loved him!

“Yes. You nerd.” She let go of him and turned towards the car, not without a last quick peck, though. “See you”, MJ smiled and disappeared in the car, which drove off only moments later.

Peter waved after the car until it was out of view, before he got back into the building, skipping up to the common room with the widest, most love-struck grin on his face.

He loved MJ who loved him back! Upstairs, everybody was deep in conversation, about what, Peter did not know. And didn't care. Like it did in the cartoons, the picture of MJ's face whirled around his head, surrounded by a probably unhealthy amount of hearts.

“Hey, Romeo.” He only realized Tony as he sat next to Peter and poked his arm.

“Huh?”

“Wow, you really are in love, hey?”, Tony grinned and Peter felt himself blushing. “I guess that's a yes.”

“We kinda just now said it to each other for the first time”, he beamed at his mentor.

“Oh wow. That's a big step.” Tony put his arm around Peter's shoulder and gently squeezed it. “I'm proud of you, kiddo.”

“You are? For what?”

“Not quite sure”, the man chuckled. “I guess, I just am. How you're finding your way, navigating yourself through a relationship, especially your first one... Seventeen year old Tony could have learned a thing or two about that from you...”

By now Peter flushed at about the intensity of his spider suit. “But if seventeen year old Tony was any different than he was, maybe fifty-year-old Tony wouldn't be engaged to Pepper”, he shrugged.

“You little shit.” Tony glared down at Peter with his finger pointed directly at his face. “You know damn well that I'm 49.”

Peter just grinned back up. “Same difference, right?”

“Do you want to be kicked out right now?”, Tony asked, his eyebrows raised higher than Peter had ever seen it. “Because that's how you get kicked out of the house and the Avengers.”

“You are aware that I'm stronger than you, right?” Oh, Peter loved it when he managed to render Tony speechless.

“What did I do to deserve an ungrateful Spiderchild like you?”, Tony groaned, before he smiled back down and gave Peter's shoulder another squeeze. “Must've been a damn saint in a previous life.”

* * *

Oh, this was all so very wrong. Howard should be able to sit with his son, chat about his life, and have a nice and proper talk; instead he got to watch Tony being like a father to Spider-Man all the while he barely spoke three sentences with Howard.

He probably deserved it; if there was one thing he had learned about his kid these last few days, it was his big heart and fierce protectiveness of all he held dear. Howard must have done horrible things that not even his Tony could forgive him for that.

“You two need to talk.” Peggy sounded resolute, stern even, as she sat down next to him and looked over at where Tony had his arm around Peter.

“Right. Stark men and talk. We have obviously never met”, he scoffed at her idea.

“Howard, you listen to me. That boy was broken into a million little pieces and pulled himself together, worked harder than either of us to make himself whole again. He deserves to talk, to be listened to. He deserves closure. So to make one thing very clear: we are not leaving this time until that happened.”

“Yes ma'am.” Damnit, as scary as Peggy was, she was just as right.

It would probably be easier if Howard knew what exactly he was apologizing for, his Tony was only five after all; there wasn't too much he could have screwed up already. But Peggy was right. Howard had to address this with Tony's point of view in mind.

And as much as Howard hated to talk feelings, he just wanted to get this out of the way as soon as possible. He did have to wait until late morning of the following day, mere hours before they were supposed to travel back to their time.

* * *

“It seems like Peggy and I will be back on our own time soon. Thank you, son, for everything.”

“Sure thing”, Tony shrugged. Man, he could barely make eye contact with his own father. There was so much he wanted to say to him, that he needed to get off his chest. They were sitting by themselves at the moment, probably thanks to the combined efforts of Pepper and Peggy, so Tony and Howard could talk.

“But more than to thank you, I need to apologize”, Howard continued. “I really am a lousy father, have been or will be one.”

Damn. Tony never expected his dad to say that. “I’m not gonna lie”, he stated after a deep breath, “so yeah. You were.”

“I can’t even begin to express how sorry I am.”

Tony felt Howard’s gaze on him and met it head on. Sure, he looked apologetic and like he regretted everything, but…

“And I can’t even describe how proud I am that you did not turn out like me. You have SI, the Avengers and still manage to be so good with that boy, Peter… Even though I don't know what it is I did, or will do, it hurts to see that I am the reason you never got to feel like he does.” After a deep breath, Howard continued. “I would love to promise you that I’ll be better, that I’ll do right by you.”

“Yeah, right”, Tony couldn’t help but scoff. “Howard, don’t insult either of our intelligence by promising something we both know you won’t keep. Do you know that this, right now, is the first time I ever heard you tell me that you’re proud of me?”

“Really?” Howard's face fell and basically oozed dread.

“Really. And I know that all of that hasn't happened yet to you, though let's be honest, even as a kid it was Jarvis who treated me like a father should. I mean, the happiest day in you life was the day you could send me off to boarding school and be rid of me. I had to compete my whole life for your attention with a dead guy. I hated Cap over there with a passion since no matter what I did, I would never be able to compare to him; not in your eyes at least. Once I got to know him, I forbade myself from liking him, out of fear I'd end up like you. I had to reach my late forties to break out from all the fucked up shit that was bottled up inside and you don't want to know what I had to go through, what I put Pepper, Rhodey, all the people that really love me through. Do you have any idea how fucked up it is to only learn the meaning of the word unconditional love when you're forty?” Tony felt himself getting more and more worked up, his voice got louder and pitched higher, but he had to get it all out now; it was his last chance and if he never got on good terms with Howard, well, Tony had resigned himself to that a long time ago. But he had a chance for closure and that he'd take. “You were cold, calculating; your first thought went always to the profitability of the thing, company or person in front of you. But hey.” He shot his father a sarcastic and pained smile. “All in the past, right?”

“Tony, I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am.” Howard looked very emotional, a look Tony did not remember ever seeing on his dad's face. “I can tell you though, that that little five year old boy sitting at home right now? I love him so much. And I love the man he will become, or became. And I am so much prouder of either than I could ever be of Captain America or anything else.”

As sincere as he sounded, Tony didn't buy it, couldn't believe it. It sounded too perfect to be true.

His father probably read his mind, after a deep breath he continued talking: “I know you don't believe me, I don't deserve you believing me. And I don't deserve forgiveness. But you deserve closure. And that I'd like to accomplish.”

“You know, I just dropped it all a long time ago. A lot has happened, a whole bunch of stuff I probably shouldn't tell you about, so I'll leave it at that. There was no forgiveness, but with all the love and stuff like that that came into my life, there was no more room for bitterness and hatred. And up until you showed up in my house the other day, all that anger lay dormant. I thought it was gone, apparently not.” Shit, Tony was talking in circles, just missing the point he was trying to make. What was that point, though? This was always so much easier with Pepper or Rhodey by his side, telling him what he was thinking and trying to say.

“Point is, I don't know how we're gonna part ways”, Tony eventually stated. “I don't know if I got it in me to forgive and forget just yet. I also don't think that this will change all that much in my or our timeline, and I don't expect it to, made my peace with that a long time ago. I'm glad that I could tell you all this, get it off my chest. And you can contendly go back to your time, knowing that I have a pretty damn fantastic life, even if it is in the awareness that all that only started as soon as you were gone.”

“Right.”

The two men sat in silence, neither daring to look at the other. On the one hand, Tony would have wished for his dad to fight a bit more for their relationship, as non-existent as it was, but on the other hand he was glad that Howard didn't. If he was being honest, neither of them knew the man sitting opposite them. All Howard knew was a little five-year-old snot nose; all Tony knew was the disgruntled and sarcastic father of a troubled teenager. There was nothing either of them could say to properly end this chapter and Howard seemed to get that, too.

“I'm really happy that you do have such a fantastic life”, he eventually smiled at Tony. “Pepper, Peter, all the Avengers, they deserve you so much more than I ever did and I am glad that they not only see you for your worth or profitability, but the fantastic human being that you turned out to be. You know”, he added, “you might have my brain, but other than that, you're the perfect hybrid of Peggy and Jarvis.”

“Wow”, Tony smiled, “that is one of the most amazing compliments I have ever gotten.”

* * *

“So, while Tony and Howard get the chance to get all the closure time and circumstances denied them, I think I deserve that, too”, Steve decided and Peggy wasn't sure what to make of his grin.

“And what pray tell are you referring to?”

“FRIDAY, hit it.” And, Peggy had no idea where from music started playing. “I believe we owe each other a dance...” He held his hand out and with a smile, Peggy took it. “I know I'm late for our date by about 75 years and I'm terribly sorry for that.”

“You better be sorry”, she shot back with a grin, as Steve twirled her. “I said eight pm on the dot!”

“I know... If it makes you feel better, you still are the first girl to dance with me.”

“That is a rather sad statement for someone who's 101”, Peggy laughed. “At least it would be, if I didn't know your partner.”

“Buck isn't the biggest on dancing... And definitely not as good a dancer as you are.”

“That is incredibly sweet. I supposed you expect an answer along the same line, but unfortunately my darling husband is better on his feet than you are...”

“I think I'll be able to live with that”, Steve grinned.

For a while they just swayed silently from one foot to the other, only the music playing. Even though Peggy didn't know the song, it sounded like it was from their time; probably early forties, all in all it felt like a memory that never was.

“I don't want you to leave.” Steve broke the silence and looked down on her. “I mean, not in a romantic way”, he quickly added.

“What way then?”

“I'm not sure”, he quietly admitted. “I just know I need you and I've been living way to long in a world without you; which is coincidentally the world in which I have messed up big times.”

“Yes, you've mentioned how you are sort of a war criminal...”, Peggy nodded and couldn't keep her eyes from rolling.

“I'm so sorry to have disappointed you.”

“What? Who says I'm disappointed?”

“Why wouldn't you be?”, he shrugged and flushed quite a bit. “I not only acted unlawfully, but screwed over Tony and broke up the Avengers. I'm disappointed in myself”, he added after a moment or two.

“Well, given that neither you nor Tony want to tell me what actually happened, I don't know how I feel about the situation. From what I hear I can definitely say that both of you are goddamn and giant idiots and I would have most probably kicked your lovely behinds from here to Belgium.”

“Yeah, I definitely would have deserved it...”

“Figured. But what happened after that; reconciliation, rebuilding all that had been destroyed, in whatever way that might have been... You didn't need me for that, did you?”

“It would have been easier with my best girl around...”

“Well, your best girl was and still is needed in the past. You on the other hand got the future ahead of you. Stop idealizing the past or some fantasies about a life in the 20th century; if you hold onto all that, you'll never be able to properly move forward. Especially, since your boyfriend is also a relic of the second world war, it's easy to lose yourself in nostalgia. Don't do that.”

“Yeah”, he sighed, “it's so much easier said than done, though.”

“Please, Steve, whoever said life was easy?”

“Definitely not the guy who had every illness imaginable in his youth, died in World War II, just to come back in the 21st century”, he chuckled.

“You have a good life here”, Peggy smiled. “And I have a good life back home. What-ifs only suck the joy out of living.”

“I know you're right”, Steve nodded. “As always”, he added with a grin.

“Of course I am. And I am happy. I have a good life back home and so do you. Right?”

“Yeah”, he smiled, with the biggest heart-eyes. “I really do. And I'm so happy that you're happy!”

“I'm grateful, too.” She got on her tiptoes to reach high enough to put a soft kiss on Steve's cheek. “As turbulent and short as our time together was, I wouldn't change it for anything in the world and am so happy that I got to be a chapter in the work that is Captain America.”

“Darling, without you there wouldn't be a story to tell. And for that I'll always be grateful.”

* * *

It was time. Dr Strange appeared in the middle of the common room, as everybody sat together, trying to be cheery, when the weird goodbyes dampened everybody's spirits.

“Are you ready to leave this time behind?”

“Yes”, Peggy smiled, thinking of her family and how much she missed all of them so much. Besides, Tony didn't need her anymore; he'd be just fine and so'd be Steve.

“Come here”, she grinned at Peter and the teen went in for a hug. “Take good care of yourself and those wonderful friends of yours. You can be proud, and I just know that this world can't wait for Peter Parker changing it.”

“Thanks Aunt Peggy. Take care of you, too.”

“I will.” They broke away and Peter had the widest beaming smile on his face.

“Pepper”, she smiled and hugged the woman next. “All the best to you, my dear. I hope you have a fantastic wedding and a great life.”

“Thank you”, Pepper answered. “And when you get back to your time, tell that little kid there that I can't wait to fall in love with him.”

“Oh believe me, I will”, she chuckled as she leaned back. “Definitely. And you.” She held her hand out to Barnes. “Take care of my boy, will ya?”

“Yes ma'am”, James smiled and saluted before shaking her hand.

“Good.” Now came the heartbreaking part. She turned to Tony, who clearly fought hard against his tears. “Darling, I love you.”

“I love you, too”, he mumbled and pressed himself against her, burying his face in her shoulder. “Thanks for everything.”

“You got this, honey. You're fantastic, smart and have such a big heart... I'm not gonna have to worry one bit about you, don't I?”

“I wouldn't go that far”, he chuckled. “But I'll do my best.”

“And that's enough to change the world, my dear”, she smiled and put a soft kiss against his forehead. “Remember, I love you, and I'm so proud of my little boy, I can't even put it in words.” And cue her eyes getting wet.

Tony stayed silent, but the face he pulled was one Peggy knew all to well; he was about to bawl his eyes out, but fought with nail and tooth and everything he had not to break down in front of this audience. She cupped his cheek and shot him a warm and teary-eyed smile, before she turned to Steve, who had the tears just rolling down his cheek.

“I'm gonna miss you, Steve.”

“And I'll miss you.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in tight. “At least this time I get to properly say goodbye to you.”

“And you're not dying”, she laughed. “That's nice as well.”

“I definitely don't plan on doing that all that soon again.” Steve joined in the laughter and leaned back to look her in the eyes. “I promise, I'll be careful.”

“Steven Grant Rogers, you don't believe that yourself, do you?” Peggy tried to sound scolding, but with the tears in her eyes and the chuckle bubbling up, it was downright impossible.

“Touchée”, he snickered. “Then I'll promise to do my best, alright?”

“Good enough for me. Is it good enough for him?” She nodded at James in the background.

“Definitely not... But he knew what he signed up for, so there's no need to feel too sorry about that.”

“I don't, I'm very happy for him. He's got himself quite the guy.” She looked over at Barnes without leaving Steve's embrace though. “I wish you two the very best life. You deserve it”, she added with a smile as she looked back up at Steve.

“Thanks. So do you.” He leaned down and softly kissed her cheek. “I'll still miss you.”

“I'll miss you, too. But hey, at least I know that I'll see you again; even if it's gonna take me another forty years.”

“Lucky you”, Steve laughed.

“I am... Alright.” She broke away from his touch and turned to the wizard. “Dr Strange, I think we need to leave now or things will get unbearably emotional.”

“Of course, Agent Carter.” The wizard smiled at the time-travellers and he started mumbling some unintelligible spells as the pendant around his neck started to glow. Peggy didn't really care about the procedure, though. With the warmest smile she could muster up she looked around the group of people, waving at her and Howard, as the green light engulfed them and, after a bright blinding flash of light, everything went dark.

.

“Aunt Peggy?” Someone patting her shoulder brought Peggy back into consciousness. “Hello! Aunt Peggy?”

“Tony?” The face towering above hers slowly came into focus.

“Yeah, is me Aunt Peg”, the boy grinned. Next to him knelt Hank Pym, offering her a hand and helped her to sit up. “Hey, take it easy, you hit your head pretty badly.”

“What the hell happened?” She looked around; they were in Howard's lab, which looked like a bomb had gone off in.

“I screwed around with something I maybe shouldn't have”, Howard admitted contritely, who she now saw sitting beside her, being coddled by Jarvis.

“And it blew up rather spectacularly, ruining a lot of my research”, Hank continued, sounding just slightly pissed off.

“Everything I do is spectacular”, Howard shot back and rubbed his head, where he had quite the bruise.

“Is it very ouchy?”, Tony asked and climbed into Peggy's lap, looking very worried as he inspected her face.

“It'll be alright”, she forced herself to smile. “Different note, what are you doing here in the lab, young man?”

“He ran off and snuck in”, Jarvis explained as Tony flushed a few shades redder. “Even though he knows he's not allowed.”

“I've told you a million times to stay away from my work”, Howard groaned and turned to the little boy. “You've got no place in a lab like this!”

Oh Howard... If she wasn't so dizzy right now, Peggy would definitely cuss Howard out for his tone. “It's alright, kid”, she said instead, cupping the boy's face. “You just can't run off without Jarvis. You see how quickly things can go wrong in here and none of us wants to see you get hurt.”

“Ok... I'm sorry”, Tony mumbled.

“I know you are”, Peggy smiled and immediately, the boy's face lit up again, even if it was only a bit.

“We're taking you two to the infirmary now, you've been out for almost half an hour.”

“Really?” To Peggy it felt more like four days... And damn, did she have a weird dream... Being properly checked up on was probably the best call.

“Yeah. So come on.” Hank shooed the kid off her lap and held his arm out to Peggy and helped her to her feet and with him supporting her side, she didn't even feel too unsteady. Tony grabbed her free hand and grinned up at her; that gap where his front tooth had fallen out was just about the most adorable thing and Peggy couldn't help but smile along. How could she not; there was just something about her little boy that felt like everything was going to be alright.

* * *

From one moment to the next they were gone again. Pepper held onto Tony's arm, squeezing it softly as the green light flickered and flashed brightly, before the space in front of them was empty. But before any of them could really react though, Strange appeared again.

“They are safe and sound back in their time, just where they left.”

“Thank you, Stephen.” Tony let go of Pepper unto whom, as he now realized, he held on tightly, and walked up to the wizard. He lowered his voice just enough that only Strange would be able to hear him to voice the thought that was gnawing at the back of his head. “They don't remember us, do they?”

“I'm sorry”, he apologized. “they can't remember a time that hasn't happened yet.”

“I figured”, Tony nodded, but still, it felt like someone had twisted a knife stuck in his chest.

“If it gives you any solace, Peggy was greeted by her favourite godson, when she came to.” Stephen offered Tony a warm smile and the thought of his five-year-old self having Peggy by his side already lit up his mood again.

“It does”, he smiled back and held his hand out. “Thanks.”

“Anytime”, Stephen shook his hand and nodded at the rest of the assembled people, before disappearing in a yellowish-golden portal.

“What a weekend.”

Tony turned around and looked at Bucky. “Seriously? That's the only thing you have to say?”

“Sorry.” He half-heartedly raised his hands. “I'm not quite sure how to best summarize spending the weekend with my boyfriend's dead ex-girlfriend and the guy I killed.”

“Right, that's enough”, Steve cleared his throat and grabbed Buck by the arm. Good. There were a lot of feelings Tony didn't quite know how to best deal with and punching Barnes definitely seemed like a viable option to release some of his emotions.

“Anybody up for ice cream?”, Peter blurted out, breaking the tense silence and Tony couldn't help but snort a laugh. That kid was something else.

“Yeah”, Tony agreed, “ice cream sounds good.” He put his arm around Peter's shoulders and together they headed to the kitchen.

“I'm sorry”, Peter eventually got out, as they were in the privacy of the kitchen.

“What for?”

“That they don't remember anything...”

“You overheard me and Stephen.” Tony wasn't sure whether he meant it as a statement or a question.

“Can't turn of the spider-hearing”, Peter shrugged apologetically and grabbed a spoon for each of them, as Tony got the ice cream out the freezer.

“Yeah, I keep on forgetting that... You very disappointed?”

“I got to spend the weekend with one of the most amazing people of the last century! I don't mind that she won't remember it, because it was awesome! But it's not like they're my Aunt or Dad...” He looked up with those big soul-searching puppy eyes and Tony could only smile.

“I'll be alright. I got Pep, Rhodey, Happy and you, that's all I need.”

“Aw, Mr Staaaark!”, Peter cooed with a wide beaming grin.

“Nevermind, I'll take it back”, Tony deadpanned, raising an eyebrow at the kid.

“Too late”, Peter grinned right back. “FRI, you got that all on camera, right?”

“I do, Peter. Would you like me to send you a copy?”

“Oh, for fuck's sake! FRIDAY, you're MY AI, not Peter's.”

“But she likes me more than you”, Peter grinned back, and that cheeky smile just was infuriatingly adorable.

“As artificial intelligence I do not have the capacity for preferences”, she answered. “If I did, I would prefer Agent Carter or Ms Potts.”

“Ouch!”, Peter snorted out, “but I get it, I totally get it.”

“I guess, I did create you in my image”, Tony chuckled, “even more than I previously realized.”

.

“Do you need me to drive you home?”

“Thanks for the offer”, Peter smiled as he tightened the suit to match his body. “But it's not that late and since Spider-Man has been on leave-of-absence for the last few days, I might just do a bit of patrolling. Besides, I promised to call MJ as soon as I got the chance and I doubt you or Happy want to listen in on me and my girlfriend who I love and who loves me back.” If such a thing were possible, Peter's entire face turned into one giant heart eye at the mention of Michelle's name, before he pulled the mask over his head, thusly denying Tony the chance to tousle his hair.

“Good point”, he agreed, “that is definitely not something I need to be a part of. And yeah, I'm pretty sure New York misses Spidey.” He patted the kid's shoulder. “Call me if you need a hand and feel free to send me an update when you swing home.”

“Sure thing.” The boy wrapped himself around Tony in a tight hug. “Love you”, he whispered.

“Love you too, kiddo”, Tony smiled as Peter broke away and made for the window. “You do know we have doors, right?”

“Where's the fun in that?”, he shot back and out the window he climbed.

“Can't argue with that”, Tony chuckled. “Well then, Spider-Man go, save the world and make Aunt Peggy proud!”


End file.
